Keywords
by MaidenOfTheWorld
Summary: [Post-BvS; AU] The WonderBat Keywords event is happening now at fyeahwonderbat on tumblr! Today's theme is: BALANCE. Bruce and Diana are flying back from a mission he deigned highly important, but it resulted in little to no results. He knows he'll have to deal with a stewing Diana soon enough... (WONDERBAT)
1. Checks and Balances

_**WonderBat Keywords**_

_Theme:_ Balance  
_Rating:_ K  
_Word Count:_ 2,311 words

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**Note:** This story will take place in an AU of sorts that branches off from Batman V Superman.

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The Flying Fox felt hollow as it cut through the air at sixty thousand feet. Soaring smoothly over the clouds, Bruce piloted his prized plane with the expertise that he'd honed for years, and the concentration of a man who reveled in being as antisocial as possible. He sped through the night so that he could meet the sunrise just as it rose over Gotham, with roughly four thousand nautical miles to traverse between New York and Moscow that warranted his undivided attention. There was still six hours of airtime and refused to vacate his pilot seat for a single second of the voyage.

Especially when there was a fuming Diana somewhere on board.

Bruce could hear her infuriated shouts echoing in his head from the argument they'd had before the mission even began. She had been adamant that they didn't need to visit the desolate village he had considered an international threat. He, being one of the only mortals whose stubbornness rivaled the Amazon's, refused to see her point of view after learning that the radioactive hub on the outskirts of the town was the epicenter of his investigation into what he referred to as 'hellions'.

As a woman who claimed to have killed things from other worlds before, he had assumed she'd be thrilled to join him on this mission.

Instead, Wonder Woman scolded him about his lack of self-preservation and willingness to coordinate with the League properly.

The League that he had compelled her to help him form.

"How much longer until we arrive?" Asked the very woman who was on his mind. Her voice drifted into his ear and cleared the fog that he was lost in, replacing his mindless thoughts with a swift reply.

He answered her over his shoulder without ever turning to face her, "Six hours, maybe less."

"Hm." Was her meager response, punctuating the sound of her dropping into the seat behind him, off to his right. Knowing that Diana was in the cockpit with him now and presumably intending to stay was more unnerving than he'd ever admit to.

Bruce gazed at the weather radar and allowed himself to become hypnotized. He needed to center himself if she was preparing to argue with him after the disappointing results of their trip. In his eyes, the information they gathered was monumental to his study of the hellions. But surely, because she wasn't given the chance to punch something into the ground or act as a battering name in the name of justice, Wonder Woman would have more to say about her disapproval of the Batman's methods.

She acted like the governess of not only the League, but of him as well, providing him with unwarranted checks and balances as the criteria for his style of operations. Coddling him at times when he was certain of the action he had to take. No one had ever serviced him while simultaneously challenging him the way that Diana did. Unwilling to be placed under her thumb any longer, Bruce stated a little too pridefully, "Alfred is looking over the information we gathered now and we're working on locating their real base of operation."

"That's possible?" She questioned with a sleep-induced drawl.

He immediately reined himself in, feeling like a bully for antagonizing her while she was trying to sleep. "We'll send out a search for their signature. Since they move around while infected with so much radiation, it shouldn't be difficult to-"

"Bruce," she called to him.

"What?" The abrupt shift in conversation made his jaw snap closed very aggressively at the end of his retort.

Unbothered by his ever present antagonism, Diana brushed passed his tone of voice in a way he nearly admired as she asked, "You're going to need more than the accessories on your belt to defeat those hellions."

Now, it seemed as though she was antagonizing _him_. "They're clearly monsters of some kind, with an origin in science or possibly mythology. The hellions I've seen have taken on an almost chimera-like appearance while looking as though they're made from stone," He stated the facts of their situation so that she couldn't find a single word to dispute. Then, Bruce leaned into his irritation so that he'd motivate himself to turn on autopilot as he spun around and faced her to finish off his explanation. "I'm aware that they can't be stopped by a tranquiliser or a taser."

"Then what was your goal here?" inquired Diana. Her legs were tucked underneath her rather informally compared to the statuesque posture he had imagined her in while his eyes had been fixated on the sky. Prim and proper no matter the situation he was in, it was odd to witness Wonder Woman snuggling into her seat at the Flying Fox like she was at a slumber party. The pale white lights that lit up the cockpit managed to highlight the pale complexion on her face and though he couldn't understand why she looked so worn, Bruce knew she still had some fight in her based on her question.

Confidently, he bit back, "I told you - we needed to determine if this was the place they were originating from."

Diana sighed, "Did you expect them to originate from a hive mind? Did you think it'd really be so simple?"

"No." Bruce growled.

"Then what?" her tone grew harsher as she sat up in her seat. "If your technology is so great, why did you and I risk our lives by coming here? We were in Russia for almost two days and all we did was spectate their behaviours at one of their nests and evacuate a village when they started turning on each other and ripping themselves to shreds."

Bruce thought he was hilarious when he answered her with a great deal of attitude, "I'm sure those villagers said thank you in Russian."

The fire in her eyes sparked instantaneously and her feet slammed onto the floor with a heavy thud. Furious, unimpressed, Diana scolded him just like he expected her to. "We should have told Barry where we were going, or asked Arthur to join us. We are sitting on this plane right now due to luck and nothing else. Not your skills, or mine! We are lucky they never paid any attention to us or who knows what would have happened."

"We didn't need reinforcements if we were only observing their behaviour and studying their base." Bruce pointed out.

"Victor would have been better suited than either of us!" Diana argued, the volume of her voice rising.

Behaving in a reactionary fashion caused his voice to grow louder as well. "If you don't like the calls I'm making, then you can decline my invitations for these missions. I'm not twisting your arm to make you come with me, Diana."

"You're absolutely maddening!" Now, while shouting at the top of her lungs, she had risen to her feet and glared at him with a ferocity that told him she was prepared to beat the argument out of him. "These creatures we saw rip each other apart without much provocation and you cannot see how unjustified you were to come here without anything but your pride to guide you? Your kevlar suit would only make it more of an exciting challenge for them to do the same to you, had they caught you snooping around their base!"

Though she wasn't incorrect, his mortality wasn't what their clash was centered around. Bruce stayed absolutely still when he sought her conclusion, "What's your point?"

"My point," she contended, "is that you may be scared of what these hellions are capable of, but throwing yourself at them is not the solution. If there is a plan of action that needs to be made, it must be considered by the entire team."

"Not everything we do is a League-related matter." He rebuked her perspective entirely.

Diana was not having it, however. So exhausted with him and his point of view, she looked him dead in the eye and dared him to explain, "Then why did you extend an invitation to me?"

That, he could not address so easily. While concocting his plan for the mission to Russia, it seemed only logical that he bring a metahuman with him in case things did in fact take a turn for the worse. For someone who had such a difficult time relying on the people in his own city, inviting Wonder Woman was the easiest pill to swallow when compared to the other options he had before him. Not only that, but the trust he had in Diana was incomparable to the lukewarm relationship he had with Arthur, or the distance he kept from the skittish Barry unless his presence was absolutely necessary.

Diana also didn't know that Victor was on standby for Alfred's call back in Gotham already.

He watched her turn her back on him and return to her seat when he didn't maintain the speed at which their conversation was flying. He took the chance to observe the way her shoulders had fallen and the way her long black hair outlined her hunched over posture. Something about this entire scenario had stolen away a great deal of her energy for reasons he couldn't understand. Nevertheless, he knew that arguing with him tended to wear out even the best of people.

Like her.

Bruce decided to throw off his cowl and run a gloved hand over his face in an act of frustration. He knew he needed to answer her, however, it took much longer than he expected to find the words he needed to justify his decision-making process. Finally, just as she tucked those long legs of hers underneath herself once again, he blurted out, "Because no one is as desperate to keep me alive the way you do."

It was a sarcastic remark. Despite how the entire temperature of the cockpit had cooled, Bruce had genuinely intended to rile her up even more so with his insensitive words. After all, they weren't off the mark. Whether she tried to reprimand him before taking off to Russia or she was forced to carry him out of the village in one arm and a panicked Siberian Husky in the other, he could always rely on her should he need it.

_Should he_.

To his surprise, Diana laughed at his childish teasing. It was only a couple of giggles, but he managed to make her smile. When she finished taking in a rather deep breath, she whispered, "I suppose that's true. So you're admitting I was roped into your chaos due to my own sentimentality?"

Bruce was flabbergasted once again by her indirect accusation. He chose to check on the sky for any glimpse of the sunrise as a type of distraction that would have allowed him some time to think. This time, his attempt at humor was more friendly, in a surface level kind of way, "I'm sure you would have complained about me going alone, too, so it was more efficient to let you scold me on the trip there and back."

"Hm, I suppose that's true. But remember one thing, Bruce," He never heard her voice grow louder in his ear, however, he felt her hand when it landed on his shoulder the instant she said his name. The contact would have made him jump had he not been trained to rid himself of such primitive reactions to shocking moments such as this. Though his skin did indeed crawl beneath his kevlar suit when she finished her warning to him, "I can pilot this aircraft if need be, so you might want to be wary about how much you provoke me."

"Again," Bruce smirked up at her, his brows furrowed with a devious intention. "You're only proving that I was right to bring you along."

The wry smile she gave him in response lit up her face so completely, it truly felt like she was the yin to his yang when he thought about the meaning behind the type of grin he was showing her. Mockery versus honesty. Snide amusement compared to genuine delight. Whether they were at one another's throats or in agreement, they always managed to play the roles of day and night - the perspective of optimism challenged by the darkness he seeped into every interaction.

There was most definitely a delicate balance in their partnership.

If the familiar sounds of his dashboard blaring at him didn't pull Bruce's attention away from her in that moment, he had no idea how long they would have been gazing at one another. Tearing himself away from her, he spotted a handful of colors lighting up the right side of his weather radar, warning him of an upcoming storm. He flipped a switch inside of him and commanded her without hesitation, "Sit down, I have to deal with this."

Diana didn't answer him with words. He could only assume she obeyed him when she removed her hand from his shoulder and kept quiet. Presumably, she'd try to finally take that nap that their argument interrupted. Once he assumed she was out of his personal space, Bruce got to work and reclaimed control of the Flying Fox. He had flown through many storms in the past, to the point that his hands squeezed the sides of the yoke with mild excitement.

Bruce wasn't all too preoccupied with the thunderstorm that he was approaching, if the truth be told. He was more interested in the way that the sunlight that was grazing the darkness of the night that he was sailing through at sixty thousand feet. Considering the height he was at and distance they still had to travel, it wasn't lost on him how ironic it was to see the daylight meet the night after the conversation they just had.

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**Author's Note:**

This chapter marks the beginning of the WonderBat Keywords event, where each day is assigned a word that pertains to the WonderBat relationship! Here is the list of themes and their corresponding days:

**July 22 - _Balance_**

**July 23 - _Adoration_**

**July 24 - _Passion_**

**July 25 - _Tension_**

**July 26 -_ Intelligence_**

**July 27 - _Honesty_**

**July 28 - _Commitment_**

Feel free to join in, and PM me with a link to your story if you want me to share it with your fellow WonderBat fans! You could contribute for all themes, a handful, or even one - any and all WonderBat love is one hundred percent appreciated! Or, sit back and enjoy this story as it unfolds throughout the week. ~ Maiden


	2. Burgers and a Blessing

**_WonderBat Keywords_**

_Theme: _Adoration  
_Rating:_ PG / T  
_Word Count:_ 2.562 words

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**NOTE: **The diner in this story is in direct reference to ZacKLP's story, _Wonderbat Keywords 2019 Entry: Diners, Drive-Ins & Dunces_. Though that fanfic takes place in the JLU, I thought I'd bring it into the DCEU to make this chapter more exciting. Hope you enjoy!

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It had been a long while since Diana last wore jeans, let alone a graphic t-shirt. She refused to compromise on her footwear as a lover of heeled shoes, but the sandal wedges she chose complimented the casual look she had been advised to wear by Barry. She didn't frequent diners often, as most of her meetings were held in five star restaurants or on the dig site of a new antique being discovered. Nevertheless, it made her feel almost giddy to think that her 'superhero friends' were sitting down together at Sport's diner to nonchalantly order burgers and discuss the latest threat to life on Earth.

"Whoa, a churrasco burger? This Carol combo sounds really good." Sang Barry from across the table. Diana peeked at him from over her menu and the grin on his face made it clear that he had made up his mind on what he'd be ordering for dinner.

Seeing his enthusiasm for his meal immediately reminded Diana of the takeout order she'd need to place for later. Smoothly, she lifted her menu up in front of her face and whispered, "What would you like me to bring home for you, Victor?"

"_Don't worry about me. I'll just have something delivered to headquarters._" Cyborg answered.

Immediately, a deep rumble next to her acknowledged his words before she could. "No you will not." Bruce ordered cooly.

A sigh crackled the connection to the device in her ear. "_Then I'd love some curly fries_."

"Yes! Curly fries for the table too." Barry exclaimed, pronouncing his cheer with an enthusiastic clap.

His uncontainable joy was met with a groan from the Batman. Diana lowered her menu and immediately noticed how the navy blue polo he wore could not soften his appearance in the slightest. Just as fiercely as he would if he was wearing his cowl, he frowned for a solid second before he reminded everyone, "We can't order anything until we're all here."

Knowing who he meant, she lifted her brown eyes off of his darkened profile and stared out the large window that sat next to their table. Facing the ocean, there was a beautiful view of the crystal clear water as the sun pulled away from it across the sky. There were many couples strolling the shoreline with their arms wrapped around one another, some families frolicking in the low tide, and one large man stomping towards Sporty's diner with a build that was unmistakable.

"He's just fashionably late." Diana informed them with a slight lift of her chin. She watched as Bruce turned to face her, whip around to look out at the ocean, then lifted his hand to call the waiter over. Smiling at his impatience as if it was a source of amusement for her, she diverted her attention away from the Dark Knight in order to acknowledge the young man who approached their table.

"Hi there" - she heard Bruce pause a moment, most likely to read the name tag that the waiter wore - "Zach, we're ready to order now."

"Yes, sir! What can I get for you?" Pulling out his pad of paper and a pen from the apron around his waist, Zach seemed eager to get their orders sent to the kitchen.

As the fastest man alive, Barry spoke up first. "I'll have five Carol combos - don't be afraid to go wild with the AJ salt and pepper blend - with a side of curly fries each, a Sulky milkshake with each of those, and an order of curly fries for the table."

"Don't like to share much, huh?" joked the waiter as he scribbled away.

Barry merely held up his hands in defence, making no comment about his gluttonous stomach. Diana giggled to herself before taking her turn. "I'll have the LOTSLover combo. Is it possible to make my Sulky milkshake an extra large?"

"Ooh." Barry made a sound of approval at her supersized drink order.

"Sure thing." Zach guaranteed with a grin.

"Perfect," Diana closed her menu, happy with her order. Then, she gazed out the window again to locate their other team mate.

Meanwhile, Bruce had a question for the waiter. "What is this… Sforzy burger you have here?"

"Oh, it's one of our most popular dishes," Zach explained. "It's a Thai sausage cooked in a coil shape so it acts like a burger patty. It's got shallots and garlic and lots of spices-"

"Sounds great," Arthur chimed in as he made his way over to their table, soaking wet and patting his stomach to denote that he was famished. "I'll have one of those too."

Bruce shrugged and nodded, confirming that he was still interested in the burger as well. He then collected the discarded menus on the table and handed them to Zach, while being sure to add, "Coffee, please."

Diana noticed how Zach caught the stress in Bruce's voice, compelling him to guarantee a speedy delivery of their drinks. "Coming right up."

"And get me a pint of any beer you have on tap." Arthur added as the young waiter scurried away. Then, he lightly smacked Barry's shoulder, trying to get him to move.

"Oh, right." Apologized the speedster when he threw himself into the next chair over in the blink of an eye.

Diana waited until Arthur took his seat before opening her mouth to speak. However, she was beaten to the punch by the most impatient man she knew. "Nice of you to join us." Bruce said with a lifeless tone.

Arthur leaned back, running his fingers through his soaking wet hair as he replied, "I'd love to see you try swimming from one side of the Atlantic to the next, _and_ make a dinner date."

"And we're very glad you _did_ make it," Diana promised genuinely. She made sure to cast a sideways look at Bruce, warning him to behave, before saying what she intended to before she was interrupted. "It's very important that we all discuss what is going on with these hellions that Bruce discovered."

"Hellions?" Barry inquired.

"That's what we've decided to call them." She stated with an intensity to properly demonstrate that the name did indeed suit the creatures.

Having calmed down since his first attempt at joining the conversation, Bruce was ready to spell out the danger they were all in. The air around him even felt colder than usual, and Diana wasn't entirely sure that the air conditioner was solely to blame. "They're monster that look as if they're made from stone. They have six legs like an insect - like a cockroach that's made the abandoned nuclear reactor in Russia its home. Only they're twice the size of the average human."

Barry's eyes were wide as he expressed his concern, "Wow, that sounds… really horrifying."

Arthur, on the other hand, didn't appear to be bothered in the slightest. "So we've got some creepy crawlers to deal with. Tell me where the thunder dome is and I'll be there."

"Arthur, they're not just some horde of monsters that need to be slain. They were tearing each other apart right in front of us for reasons we couldn't understand." Diana clarified, determined to change his blase position on the matter as it disappointed her slightly to hear him dismiss them so easily.

Arthur pursed his lips underneath that overgrown moustache of his, taking a moment to digest the news with proper consideration. Then, he asked her directly, "You think it's something they'd know about?"

It was obvious to her that he meant the Atlanteans. "We aren't sure what their origins are, but we know that they are vicious and seemingly mindless."

"I'm having Victor examine the terrain to determine how much radiation was at the base they were staying at. It'll give us an idea of what we can rule out in terms of the weapons that'll be ineffective against them." Was Bruce's passionate delivery of his battle strategy.

"Wait, wait, hold up," Barry leaned forward and slammed his elbows into the table, garnering the attention of the lot of them. The way his eyes darted about made it seem like he was running through some kind of calculations in his mind. "You're telling me that there are monsters that thrive off of nuclear radiation in Russia, nonchalantly ripping themselves to shreds, with no known origins, and they're just… what, relaxing next to a reactor with no obvious intention of attacking anyone?"

Diana was honest with her reply. "That we know of."

All Barry could think to say was an awkward, "...Oh my God!"

"Um, sorry," a cautious voice rejoined their conversation, pulling Diana's focus off of the Flash and directing it towards the rather swift waiter they had. Zach returned with all of their drinks and appeared apprehensive as he placed them all down on the table. One by one, they were each given their order while everyone sat in silence. It seemed unfair in her mind that they all treated poor Zach like he was intruding on their conversation, but it seemed impossible to think of any small talk to pass the time with.

When it was her turn to receive her milkshake, Diana accepted the tall glass and the excess in the mixing cup with an earnest, "Thank you."

"Your food will be coming out soon." Zach said softly before he walked away at a quickened pace.

It was apparent that she was the only one who paid any attention to the young man, as Arthur blurted out his opinion next without any hesitation. "As long as there's no one in the area and they haven't begun to migrate, it's fine we do nothing about them."

Diana made sure to point out, "Bruce and I evacuated a nearby village when they started to grow violent."

"And I've had Alfred keep an eye on them via satellite. They're still occupying the area. We didn't see any type of hierarchy amongst them, so we're assuming that they were placed there by someone or something." Bruce felt confident in his assumption, and rewarded himself with a sip of his pure black coffee.

"For creatures this large and this ferocious to appear suddenly is very strange. It is impossible to believe that no one has noticed them before, so their arrival must be recent. This can only mean that someone is planning to use them for some horrible purpose." It seemed important to drive home the severity of the looming threat they were facing, and Diana thought she completed that task perfectly. Speaking the words aloud also managed to send a chill down her spine, as it wasn't long ago that she would have behaved similarly to Arthur, and not at all like Bruce.

The Wonder Woman she was before she met Bruce was much softer than she had become, someone who was weaker in some sense of the word. There was a time when she was eager to fight and defend the people of Man's World, and then… Her last few decades were void of any direction or principle. It wasn't until a troublesome billionaire stole an important photograph of her that she was forced into arm's reach of the cocky Bruce Wayne, ultimately changing her life forever.

Now, after nearly a century alone, she was sitting at a diner with a group of 'metahuman' friends and the Batman, deliberating over the methods needed to be taken to save the world. She was no longer a coward even in moments such as these where she was admittedly scared. Though the timing was a tad inappropriate, she couldn't help but cast her gaze towards Bruce Wayne and marvel at him silently. His process was insane at times, his apathy an impenetrable shield that concealed how big of a heart he truly had and she found it mind-boggling more often than not.

However, dealing with the frustration he caused her was much more entertaining than anything she would have done while on her own.

"Any army that is unknown to us," whispered Bruce for everyone at the table to hear. "Is a threat we need to handle."

Then, all of a sudden, he sat up with a polite smile on his face and nodded to someone behind her. Diana was caught off guard by his spontaneous friendliness until she realized that Zach was indeed correct when he told them that their meals were 'coming out soon'. Even Barry's many meals were placed on their table, with their kind waiter placing a large helping of curly fries directly in the center. The amount of hands that tackled the different plates before her made her believe that the conversation they were all having was paused for the moment, until there was a fair amount of food in everyone's belly.

Rolling her eyes at the lot of them, Diana thanked Zach for his wonderful service before taking a bite of one of those highly revered curly fries that Victor and Barry adored so much.

A moment of peace before they decided how to approach the oncoming calamity wouldn't be an issue, right?

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In a dark, wet cavern, a frightened man strolled through the never-ending network of tunnels in search of something with great desperation. He held a torch in one hand while the other rested against his heart, the thunderous thumping of it only heightened his anxiousness with every step he took. The walls were jagged and misshapen in an almost intentional way but the man persisted. He moved forward with wobbly knees, with an audible shortness of breath, but regardless, he was determined to carry on.

"Where do you think you're going?" A playfully cruel taunt reached him through an echo.

The man stilled, panicked, rocking forward due to the abrupt way he halted himself. He spun around to see if he could find the source of voice, only to find a darkened figure standing over him. Fearful, he leapt backwards and dropped his torch on the ground. Without a direct source of light to illuminate the shadow, the man could only cower as he faced the entity he had been most terrified to meet.

"Please… I don't mean to offend you, I swear!" pleaded the man, unable to move onto his knees as he laid sprawled out with his belly up like the coward he thought of himself as now.

To his surprise, the darkened figure did not approach him. Instead, he heard disappointment in the scolding he received, "It pains me to see you reduced to such a state, old friend."

"Th-Then… if you'd be so kind," the man begged, this time bowing his head as a sign of respect as he did so. "Let me see her. Let me see my sister."

"It doesn't pain me _that_ much." Was the callous reply he received.

Such a heartless answer made the man collapse onto his back, as if the very words said to him acted like a sword that skewered him with the intent to kill. Laying on the uneven floor of the cave, uncomfortable and worn, the man assured with the last of his energy, "I won't stop you. I-I'll… make sure she doesn't either."

"Return to me when you awaken," Ignoring his request entirely, the man could only listen to the orders he was given, the promise of further suffering guaranteed before he lost consciousness. "I'd hate to cause you even more pain if you disobey me."


	3. Magic and Mystery

_**WonderBat Keywords**_

_Theme:_ Passion  
_Rating:_ PG / T  
_Word Count:_ 2,620 words

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**NOTE:** As this is set in the DCEU, I imagined Zatanna as Lyndsy Fonseca, but feel free to imagine her as whomever you wish!

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"I had no idea you knew someone who was well versed in magic." Wonder Woman remarked, lurking in the shadows of the balcony of the Bewitched Club. At her side, Batman frowned at the spectacle that was being performed on the stage down below. The audience was enamored with the floating lights and the levitating man being presented to them as some kind of inconceivable phenomenon.

In his eyes, Bruce saw magic as nothing more than child's play.

Grumbling low enough for only the two of them to hear, he said, "There are many different kinds of people in Gotham." He hoped that by the roughness of his tone of voice that Diana would know to leave the matter there.

Unwilling to comply with his wishes, she chose to address the matter while they witnessed the floating patron descend to the floor and the standing ovation that followed. "And you don't trust any of them?"

"Not explicitly." Was his blunt answer.

"Why?" Her curiosity was palpable, even as he turned away from her and walked towards the fire escape. They needed to reach the dressing rooms without being seen, meaning that exiting the club was more important to him than divulging his inner workings to her. He slipped through the open window without any intention of responding to her, which was why he wasn't surprised that she probed the matter further the moment he felt her boots rattle the iron staircase. "You trust the people you gathered for the League."

"Heh." He released a single cackle, admittedly amused.

Diana, unimpressed with his behaviour, challenged him. "For a man who claims to love his solitude, you have a habit of reaching out to others more often than most."

"I know who to contact when I need an ace up my sleeve." Bruce explained as delicately as possible. He knew that he could run the risk of offending her again as he had on the plane trip back from Russia if he wasn't careful with his words; she had already expressed her disdain for the way he made use of the Justice League, herself in particular, and if she thought that he considered her a tool more than a comrade, he wouldn't have her at his side when they descended.

And he knew he'd need someone who accepted magic as a vital possibility while he groaned internally at the concept.

When Bruce reached the rooftop of the club, he apologetically turned around to offer a hand to Diana. But once again, the thundering of her boots landing behind him proved that she would forever be hot on his trail if he didn't smarten up. Under the bleak shade of a dark and stormy night in Gotham, he stared at Wonder Woman through the lenses of his cowl, taking in the smug tilt to her grin. Proudly, she proclaimed, "From the moment I stole that flashdrive from you at Luthor's party, I've never been your ace. If anything, Bruce, you've been mine."

The thundering he felt next came from the building, as it rattled when the storm overhead threatened to come crashing down on them. He quietly cleared his throat before finding his footing to say, "I'll take that as a compliment, _Wonder Woman_."

His sarcasm amused her for the first time ever. "As you should, _Batman_."

"_Emoc ot em, sredurtni_."

A familiar, feminine voice whispered in Bruce's ear without warning. He witnessed the panicked look in Diana's big brown eyes, however, he wasn't able to warn her of what was about to happen as it all occurred too quickly. He recognized the style of the spell he heard a fraction of a second before they were snatched off of the rooftop and teleported into a compact dressing room. Lush in its decor, reminiscent of old Hollywood glamour, he knew they ended up in the right place even if he wasn't a fan of how they arrived.

"I thought I saw you lurking in the background during my show."

Bruce steeled himself before he faced the magician in question. "Zatanna."

Standing with her arms crossed in the middle of the room was none other than the woman he'd been looking for, and then one he scowled at for using her spell to relocate him against his wishes. Still dressed in her corset and fishnets and her sparkly blazer, she looked like she stepped off the cover of a pin-up magazine from the fifties, with her top hat punctuating the look even while she held it in her left hand. It even sounded as if she was continuing her act when she faced Wonder Woman and interrogated her with her showman voice, "And what's your name?"

"You may call me Diana. Bruce brought us here because he believes you're the only one who can help us." admitted Wonder Woman, offering a hearty handshake to the magician as a goodwill gesture.

Zatanna eagerly accepted the gesture the second she learned that he had put an ounce of faith in her. "Did he now?"

"I've been looking into a horde of monsters," Bruce began to clarify immediately. "No matter how we analyze the sample I collected, I can't pinpoint their origin."

"We were hoping you might be able to tell us something about it." Diana implored.

Despite their request, Zatanna refused to say a word while she studied the two of them. Her signature blue eyes hopped back and forth between the two of them, as if they were asking her to decipher something found in their auras or some other magical nonsense. Bruce was not amused by her scrutiny in the slightest, gritting his teeth for as long as he could in order to keep himself silent.

When that failed, he asserted, "We wouldn't have come if-"

Zatanna cut him off with a toss of her hand through the air. "If you had any other possible option. I know you aren't a fan of what I do, Bruce, so you're lucky that I'm even considering this. Though I suppose the people of Gotham say cruel things about you all the time and you still keep them safe, so..." Her disinterest in his civility was made abundantly clear when she placed her top hat on her vanity's table. Once it was out of her hands, it began to rattle ferociously in place and even started to hiss.

"What is in there, Zatanna?" Bruce demanded as he bent his knees ever so slightly in case her captive suddenly became free.

Sighing, the magician refused to reveal her secrets to them. Instead, she held out her hands and urged them both, "Give me the sample you brought, quickly."

With his hands already near his belt, Bruce removed the thin glass case from one of the compartments along his backside and placed it in her open palms. Bruce felt Diana move closer to him as they awaited for their own private magic show to begin. He could have sworn he felt an almost excited energy coming from her despite how foolish that seemed.

Bruce ignored his hunch so that he could lend all of his attention to Zatanna as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her brows knitted together over the bridge of her nose as she spoke her spell aloud, "Wohs em erehw uoy emoc morf." Her voice was powerful, commanding for the cooperation of the darkened jagged rock formation he presented to her.

Then, the world went silent.

After that, there was nothing but chaos.

Zatanna returned to them when she threw her eyes open and gasped as though she had been suffocated by her astral trip. So startled by whatever it was she saw, she nearly toppled into Diana's arms.

"Are you all right?" Diana panicked at the sight of her evident fright.

"What did you see?" Bruce tried to remain calm for Zatanna's sake, all while the fear inside of him grew. Every other trial had brought them nowhere near a possible answer as to who could be in control of the army of monsters, but when the source was located through magical means, it appeared to be a force strong enough to push the most powerful magician he knew off of her feet.

"Y-You're not going to believe me." whimpered Zatanna.

"Try me." challenged Bruce, ready to face the truth of his hunt.

Diana decided to lead Zatanna to her vanity's seat, helping her sit down as the desperation for an answer to his statement hung in the air of the dressing room. Bruce felt very much like whatever wild entity was hiding inside of her spinning hat, failing to remain patient when trapped in some way or another by magical restraints.

Thankfully, Diana's calm composure was the key to getting the answers they needed. "So they are born from magic then?"

Zatanna nodded once, twice, then spoke firmly so they had no room to question her. "Not only are they magic-based, but they're being created by gods."

An extreme case required an extreme reaction from him. "What the hell are you talking about?"

A white gloved hand slammed down on the spinning top hat before Zatanna glared at Bruce and fired her answer at him. "I'm saying that the monsters you are after are being made by the hands gods. Two, specifically, and their base of operation? The one you're looking for that you can't seem to find? Well, it's hard to find what you're looking for on Earth when you're actually looking for hell."

"Hell…?" Diana's voice collapsed as she breathed the word.

Zatanna did not show her the same amount of concern as she pushed onward, "I didn't see them being made, but when I went looking for your answers, I encountered this woman."

"Who was it!?" bellowed Bruce so loudly, it earned him a pair of matching leers from the two women in the room.

And a rather aggressive knock at the door.

"Miss Zatara? Is everything all right in there?" asked an inexperienced security guard from the other side of the door.  
Zatanna didn't acknowledge him in the slightest. However, she did maintain her furious connection with Bruce through her gaze and quickened her retelling of what she witnessed in her search. "There was a woman being held captive in a cell deep underground. She's very gifted in magic - she found me while I was searching and pulled me into her. Her mind guided me beyond her cell and showed me that the monsters you're after are being made in the pits of hell, being shaped by… a higher ranking demon? Some type of evil figurehead down there?"  
"No," Diana spoke with a grave tone of voice, with nothing but certainty cementing her words. "It's Hades."

As if their search hadn't taken enough turns, it took all of the Batman's strength to avoid recoiling at the mention of such a fictitious name. Despite the fact that an Amazon from the same mythos stood by his side for the past year, it was nearly impossible for him to accept that the lord of the Underworld that he read about as a child was preparing to wreak havoc on Earth. Being a founding member of a team that compiled some of the strongest people of the planet meant that he had to digest the reality of their gifts despite how improbable it would have seemed to him once upon a time. If he was forced to accept the truth about extraterrestrial life, he knew that he'd need to leap over his disbelief and accept what Zatanna was saying along with Diana's confirmation.

Still, he dared himself to ask, "Why him?"

Diana seemed to reflexively reach for the hilt of her sword as she divulged her thought process. "There's no one else it could be. Think about it, Bruce: gods in hell, making a demonic army? It has to be Hades. He must have coerced another god to help him create these creatures and he plans to unleash them on mankind for some malicious purpose. Whatever he's planning, he's gone so far as to invite others into his domain and most likely punished the woman in the cage for refusing to help him achieve his goal."

Another round of banging on the dressing room door cut off Diana's speech. A rather panicked cry from the hallway replaced her voice, "Miss Zatara?!"

"I have no idea what he plans are," Zatanna fretted openly. "But I can do is take advantage of this blind spot I've found and send you to her."

Bruce concealed his worry behind his cowl. "If you transport us into this witch's cell, how are we supposed to get back?"

Louder and louder the banging grew, but Diana had become so frightened by the enemy they were about to face that she had lost all interest in mortal matters. Instead of being bothered by the harsh sounds, she faced their magical messenger and said, "Contact Bruce's butler Alfred and let him know where you're sending us."

"All right." Zatanna swore to complete the task with a nod of her head.

When she faced him then, Bruce saw Wonder Woman. He saw the heroine that he'd come to admire standing in the dressing room with him, the very same woman who saved him from Doomsday with nothing more than her brute strength. The intensity in her eyes made him believe that she had already convinced herself that the battle with the lord of the Underworld was imminent, and she would be ready for it. With an obstinacy he'd be privately yearning to see from her, Diana dictated their next step with the charge of a warrior, "Let's go."

He knew in that exact moment that he had no right to seek out the logistics of their situation, that he should have checked his supposedly rational hangups at the door. If Wonder Woman was certain enough to take charge of the mission, then Batman knew where he needed to be.

"You going to be okay to handle this on your own?" Bruce wondered as he tossed his thumb over his shoulder, referring to the man who was insistently assaulting the dressing room door.

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Zatanna scoffed at his faux worry as she rose up out of her seat. She turned her back to him and held up her thumbs and index fingers in a square-like shape. As she pulled her hands apart, a glowing yellow rectangle materialized in the room that was filled with a dark, foreboding fog inside. "Go. That will take you right to her."

"Thank you, Zatanna." Diana softened her battle-ready demeanor to offer her genuine gratitude to the magician.

"I'll contact Alfred once I'm done here." She informed them, materializing her wand in one hand while the other kept a firm grasp on her rowdy hat.

Respectfully, Bruce added a quick, "Thanks."

"Now, go!" Zatanna shouted at the top of her lungs just as the dressing room door finally caved under the force of the punches being delivered to it. The wood splintered so hard, broken pieces of different sizes slammed into his elongated cloak. Bruce had to ignore every instinct he'd honed over the last thirty years of his life in order to charge through that portal. Whether he trusted Zatanna's magic or not, he would never intentionally leave her to fend for herself if he could help.

But Diana was waving him into the portal, disappearing into the fog that looked as menacing as he imagined the gates of hell possibly could be.

Leave it to the Amazon to rope him into the Underworld without any precaution, any escape route or signal to the League if needed.


	4. Gods and Guts

_**WonderBat Keywords**_

_Theme:_ Tension  
_Rating:_ PG / T  
_Word Count:_ 1,808 words

* * *

NOTE: I imagined Tonia Sotiropoulou as the face claim for this chapter, but feel free to imagine whomever you'd like!

* * *

Diana didn't know how to greet the witch she had been sent to meet. A cluster of fireflies floated around the head of the woman in the cell and, in a state of shock after stepping through Zatanna's portal, the only thing she could think to do was remain silent. The witch snickered, the lines of her face caught in the shadows that the fireflies couldn't reach. "And who might you two be?"

Taking a step forward, Diana decided to take charge of the conversation and oblige the witch first. "I am Diana, daughter of Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons."

"What!?" screeched the woman as she leapt out of her corner. "You can't be… A daughter to the queen? You lie!"

"You know my mother?" Diana rebutted her accusation with a question of her own.

The woman's voice felt much like a snake slithering around her, the echo of the cell giving her a haunting awareness of the danger both she and Bruce were currently in. There had been no other way to enter the Underworld, and it might have landed them in the lap of one of her mother's enemies. "Know her? She tried to save me from this hell I'm living in. If I had only listened, I wouldn't have had to endure being overtaken by that sow, Persephone!"

Hearing that description provided Diana with all of the necessary clues she needed to identify the witch- no, the goddess before her. With belated excitement, she blurted out the name she knew belonged to her, "Hecate!?"

"Who?" Bruce whispered from behind her.

However, her attention belonged to the goddess of witchcraft whom she'd always wanted to meet, ever since she was a little girl. Slowly but surely, she watched the horde of fireflies float towards her in an almost ghostly way. Their weakened glow began to reveal the unruly curls of hair that curtained her beautiful face, yet a pair of striking eyes peered through the messy strands with evident scrutiny. "How do you know my name?"

"My mother told me about you. She told me how you were betrothed to Hades, how she dressed you for your wedding in her chambers and walked you through the gate to the Underworld, how-"

"It _must _be you!" gushed Hecate as she flew around her with unbridled glee before reaching out to grab both of her hands. The imprisoned deity looked incredibly honored to meet her. "I was unaware that Hippolyta had a child! It's such an honour to meet you, my darling girl. Oh, you're so beautiful."

The way that Hecate showed her affection felt incredibly nostalgic for the Amazon who once grew up on an island of Greek women. Hand holding and pet names were luxuries she hadn't realized she missed until that very moment, in a rock-made cave in the depths of the Underworld. She savoured the sincerity for a moment longer before reminding herself that they were only in hell for a particular reason. "As are you. Had I known-"

"You expected anything less?" scoffed Hecate, amused by her courtesy. "My magic may be restricted in this gods-forsaken place, but that doesn't mean I can't take care of myself."

"Which explains why you summoned us here, to help you escape." Came the cold voice of the Batman from over Diana's shoulder, sarcastic as ever. It was just as embarrassing as it was infuriating for her to hear her companion address a goddess in such a cold fashion. Despite the poor lighting of the cell, she made sure to glare at the Dark Knight as if he could see her fury like a beacon of rage in the darkness.

She felt Hecate's hands slip away from hers while she giggled fiendishly. "I see. _Well_, I can tell you have the same taste in men as your mother."

"We're here to stop Hades," Diana specified in order to bypass any small talk as she cautiously observed the way Hecate drifted towards Bruce. "We were hunting these demons that we believe he is creating, and it led us to you."

There was a heavy pause after she finished speaking. With her back to Diana, she couldn't make out which emotion the goddess was presenting. However, knowing Bruce as well as she did, she noticed the way his frown lifted into a solid straight line which could only mean that he was witnessing a rather solemn expression on her face. So moved was he, that he spoke to her with the respect he owed her from the very beginning when he asked, "Why did you bring us here?"

That question pulled the goddess out of her daze and helped her to regain her plucky attitude, much to Diana's delight. With a renewed focus, Hecate justified her actions, "Because I've been meditating for months now trying to find a mind powerful enough to help me escape from this cell and your witch sent me you two. Honestly, who is this man, Diana?"

Trying to stifle her amusement, she replied, "This is Batman. He is a very successful detective, as well as a warrior."

"Hmph, I guess I shouldn't expect the standard of human intelligence to be the same as the gods."

Her eccentricities had officially worn out Bruce's patience. In that deep bellow that even resonated inside of the centuries old Amazon, he brushed past her taunting and pressed the witch who could turn him into a literal bat for an immediate answer, "Do you know what the hell is going on down here at all?"

"Hecate," Diana called to her in the hopes of distracting her from exacting her wrath on the tactless man. "Tell me: how are you even alive?"

The question shocked the goddess like a bolt of lightning, as if she had inherited her father's power over electricity. "What do you mean by that?" Hecate inquired, seemingly stunned.

"I was led to believe that all of the gods died in their battle against Ares." Diana replied.

Her answer made the goddess recoil with much less dignity than she most likely would have wanted. "When was this?"

"Long before I killed him." Was her sharp response.

Again, Hecate took a moment before answering her. This time, the air in the cell became heavy as her voice grew deeper. "When was this war?"

Judging by the determination she heard in that once cheery voice, Diana feared for the worst. She remembered that Hecate claimed to be searching for someone to free her months on end, but it was becoming increasingly more obvious that her sentence wasn't as small as she once thought. "Many millennia ago."

The truth managed to make the world stand still. One by one, the fireflies around her head shriveled up like autumn leaves and fell to the ground, dead. As the only source of light began to wither away, Diana braced herself for whatever sort of reaction Hecate would have, and she heard the way Bruce's boots dragged along the stony ground as he did the same. As the pitch-black darkness surrounded them, they could do nothing more than wait for her to react to the news of her stolen time.

"_AAAUUUGGGHHH!_" Hecate screamed at the ceiling with all of her might. "I've been here for all that time!? HADEEESSSS!"

The screech of her cry was so strong, it forced Diana to slap her hands over her ears as a meager attempt to protect her from the sound. Her head began to throb from the pressure of her voice to the point that it hurt to open her eyes. Nevertheless, she did her best to squint in order to see if she could spy Hecate and grab a hold of her. If she could shake some sense into the wailing goddess.

Until she spotted the reverberating columns that acted as the stone-made blockade that kept them all trapped inside of the cell.

Diana watched them rattle under the influence of Hecate's voice, and it dawned on her that the goddess of witchcraft should have been able to spring free from Hades' captivity. However, she realized in that moment that it might have required the skill of an Olympian god to dismantle the prison made by another Olympian god.

Though her head was splitting the instant she released her ear, Diana dropped her hand onto the hilt of her sword and gripped it tight. Her feet stomped their way over to the thin pillars with a murderous look in her eyes. Leaning into her desperation to escape the pain in her head, she swung her blade at the shaking stone-made bars and watched them shatter against the sharp edge of steel. It took only one swipe at them to destroy what felt to her as seven columns. The vibrations on her sound made the metal sing and it somehow outlasted the yells of a disgruntled witch.

When Hecate swallowed her rage along with a deep, deep breath of air, she muttered, "Y-You… You did it. You broke through the cell."

"_We_ did." Diana pointed out happily.

But to her dismay, her relief about being free was short lived when she heard the sound of galloping coming from somewhere in the distance. The unmistakable sprinting of a horde was growing louder and louder, filling her heard with absolute dread. The monsters were coming, there was no doubt about it, and they were intending to decimate the lot of them.

"Hecate," Diana had a request to make, even though it sounded much more like a command. "Can you transport Batman out of here?"  
"What!?" Bruce growled. "No!"

"Gladly." Was the goddess' reply a second before she snapped her fingers. Diana could have sworn she heard Bruce attempt to argue his case, however, all she truly heard was a phantom-like wail immediately after.

She knew he would be furious with her, and rightfully so. This had been his mission from the start and she had given him - for lack of a better word - hell for tackling something much bigger than himself without a structured plan. He told her just minutes ago that he trusted no one and Diana imagined that she had officially shattered his trust in her. Nevertheless, she couldn't guarantee that Bruce would survive the horde of self-mutilating demons that were charging at them.

And she refused to allow him to take the chance.

She removed her shield from her back and prepared herself for battle. "Let's go find Hades."

Giggling like a child in a candy store, Hecate's eerie amusement managed to fuel her with confidence as she sang in her ear, "Now those are some magic words."

Diana had to believe her.

If the goddess of witchcraft commended her willpower as spellbinding, then it must be true.

Yes, and if she completed his mission, surely Bruce would have no choice but to forgive her.


	5. Meetings and Misbehaving

_**WonderBat Keywords**_

_Theme:_ Intelligenxe

_Rating:_ PG / T

_Word Count: _2,057 words

* * *

Bruce had no clue what was going on around him. He heard Diana ask that the goddess of witchcraft send him away and that her request was obliged. The words he wanted to say in protest felt like they evaporated in his mouth as he traveled through space and time to some foreign location.

He landed on his knees, surrounded by a crowd.

"Warriors!" a chorus of angry voices shouted as Bruce tried to recalibrate himself after such a forced teleportation.

There was the distinct shifting of armour amplified by the thousands reverberating around him, like a shockwave that was meant to knock him to his feet. All it managed to do was seize his heart with panic as he lifted his head to stare down his foes.

It shocked him more than he'd care to admit when he came face to face with an army that was made up entirely of women. Donning leather armour with ancient designs and medieval weapons in their hands, the female cavalry that threatened to skewer him with spears and swords and arrows reminded him of the costume that his so-called partner wore…

"Intruder," roared an authoritative voice from behind the readied warrior. "Identify yourself."

With all due respect, Bruce kept quiet while her surveyed what little terrain he could make out from the gaps in their forces. He spotted grass that was the color similar to emeralds, and trees that sway in the seabreeze. There was the sound of the ocean somewhere close but he couldn't make out the direction it was in, meaning he had no obvious means to escape the angry women's wrath. Carefully, monitoring them to determine whether or not he was allowed to move, he took the chance to see if he was enclosed in a circle by their army or if he was his back against a wall of some kind.

No matter which direction he cast his gaze, there were hundreds of furious glares staring right back at him.

"I won't ask you again!" Warned the assertive voice from before.

Bruce knew that he should not press his luck any further he wanted to make it out of such a sticky situation alive, so he turned back around and replied with just as firm a tone, "Am I on the private island of the Amazons?"

Meeting their demands with a question urged the arches to pull on their drawstrings and the spear-throwers to tug their arms back. Furious, the supposed commander howled at him, "You were warned. Atta-!"

"_Heads up!_" Cheered a familiar, cocky, unwanted voice the second before something sharp landed in front of Bruce. The way it embedded itself into the ground was so fierce, he took a step back for fear of being associated with the soaring trident.

"Dammit," he hissed to himself as many of the warriors turned to face the direction from which the weapon was thrown. Thinking on his feet, Bruce blurted out the only thing he could think to say in order to diffuse the arising tension. "We mean you no harm! We must speak with your queen-"

"Silence, heathen!" Demanded a woman with long brown hair, sitting on horseback and armed with nothing more than her animosity.

Bruce met her hatred with his signature indifference when a gust of wind rushed by him. "Hey Batman," said the Flash, as chipper as ever. "Glad we got here when we did."

Bruce had so many things he wanted to say to that, such as an inquiry about _how_ they got to the seemingly secret island, or why he let Arthur announce their arrival like that. However, he lost his chance to when Victor landed next to him and filled in the gaps faster than the speedster. "Your magician friend really saved your ass just now."

"You really couldn't have picked a worse time." Bruce said, vehemently.

Ignoring his derision, Cyborg scanned the group and whispered to him nothing more than a number, "Five thousand."

The army was larger than he first anticipated. Unwilling to participate in a standstill any longer, Bruce kicked Aquaman's trident down from its upright position and stood over the holes in the ground that its prongs had made. Then, he made sure that his voice carried its signature boom when combined with the distortion application in his suit as he proclaimed, "We seek an audience with Queen Hippolyta, on behalf of her daughter Diana! There are demons being made in the Underworld that threaten all of mankind, and she is down there fending them off on her own! She needs your help, now!"

The lie he told was small, but it helped to sell the emergency he was presenting to the army and their commander. As Arthur was pushed through the crowd with his hands in the air, his shirtless body offending the women greatly, Batman stood tall at the front of the haphazard Justice League in the hopes that his stoic demeanour would prove to them that his claim was legitimate and worthy of their attention.

It took longer than he would have liked - with images of Diana battling those lava rock-made demons passing through his mind at lightning speed sending him into a spiraling state of concern - but eventually, the commander spoke over the silence and the chirping cicadas to decree, "Bring them to the queen's will know if he speaks the truth."

Not one to bask in the feeling of relief, Bruce released an involuntary sigh when his spontaneous scheming managed to keep him alive. Considering the chaos that his involuntary teleportation caused, any turn of events that didn't end with him being sliced in two gave him a fighting chance.

And, as a result, Diana too.

* * *

The great hall of the palace was shrouded in gold, almost as if every inch of the room had been bathed in the metal. Filled to the brim with what he assumed to be Amazonian council members, none of the other women had the same presence in Bruce's eyes as the queen herself. Hippolyta stood in front of her circular throne, appearing domineering and spiteful as she glared at the gathered members of the League.

The gathered _men_.

"You four are quite brave," remarked the queen with a false tone of admiration. "Traversing the Underworld, facing off against demons while some of you are nothing more than mere mortals, staring down one of my strongest fleets and commanding them to bring you to me."

"If it makes you feel any better," Arthur thought it was wise to chime in at that exact moment. "I'm not mortals like them."

Hippolyta cracked a smile, Bruce noticed, but it most definitely stemmed from her righteous sense of hatred. "I know, Atlantean. You're merely the one who threw his weapon at my warriors."

No one in the room spoke, awaiting Arthur's reply. Thankfully, the silence drew out over many beats, which was music to Bruce's ears.

"Tell the queen what you told me, Bat-man." Ordered the general from the field. Though he's never told her his heroic moniker, he figured that it wasn't that difficult to identify him in such a way given his costume.

"My name is Bruce Wayne. Your majesty, I didn't mean to randomly appear on your island." Bruce apologized in his own way.

"No? You materialized in the very spot where a raging purple fire spawned in our field."

Bruce used her words against her, "You said it yourself - you know I'm mortal."

Hippolyta's eyes narrowed as she spat, "Then who sent you here?"

"Hecate."

The mention of the goddess sent the Amazonian council into a frenzy after a collective gasp filled the space. For the first time since he met her, she reminded Bruce of Diana. When she was too distracted by his circumstances to present herself as the matriarch of the island, she had the same emotional pair of eyes as her daughter. Her shock, her cautious joy and her immediate curiosity all fought for dominance over her expression, painting a rather human depiction of the queen of the Amazons.

"What nonsense is this!?" Screamed the general.

"Menalippe!" Scolded the Queen, regaining her composure by the time she finished saying the woman's name.

Menalippe was taken aback, but she refused to cease her inquiry. "He mentions a goddess from our history and expects us to believe him!? What, were his friends brought here by Poseidon!? Were they flown in on the back of Zeus' eagle!? Our gods are not for you to speak of so lightly!"

Unaware of the fact that the Amazons thought of their gods as deceased, Victor raised his hand at Bruce's side. "No, we were brought together by the magician Zatanna. She told us that Bruce needed us, and her portal brought us here."

"Diana and I visited her—"

"Mentioning my daughter now too?" The wayHippolyta hissed at him made it easy to compare her to what he imagined Medusa would have sounded like.

If she was real.

But she wasn't.

Bruce hoped, at the very least.

Unafraid by the growing animosity in the great hall, Bruce approached the bottom step of the staircase that led to the infuriated queen. There were whispers that also reminded him of snakes, but he persevered. "We know your daughter. She is a founding member of our team and all we want to do is to keep this world safe. She was with me while I investigated these strange stone-made creatures that were gathering… in the North, and it led us to ask a magician I know—a sorcerer who could help me locate the place where these monsters come from."

He expected someone to interrupt him, to insult him or question his legitimacy. When no one made a sound within a millisecond after he said his last word, he decided to keep going.

"She sent us to the Underworld, and we met a woman in a cell. She said her name was Hecate. She had no idea just how long she had been trapped down there, but Diana realized that it had to be for thousands of years based on a story you told her about a battle between your gods."

"And somehow, only you escaped?" Scoffed the general, all while the queen tried to hide her sparkling eyes by closing them tightly.

Bruce could tell that he was breaking through to Hippolyta. Her heart was drawn to his story and desperately wishing it were true. He couldn't guess when she last saw Diana, but—

He knew when she had last seen Hecate.

He climbed a single step, much to the frustration of the Amazonian council. Menalippe even drew a dagger out of its hilt from her back and readied herself to strike. Bruce didn't care for her threatening behaviour, not when he had a goal. Not when he knew he was so close.

"Your majesty," he tried to coddle her before he would have to push her back into some of her deepest memories. "You didn't know that Hecate was alive, and she didn't know that the war with Ares ever happened. Her last happy memory is when you dressed her for her wedding to Hades. She was honoured to meet your daughter, and now they're fighting alongside each other against Hades' demons in the Underworld."

He knew that what he had said was a lot to digest, and it took the queen some time to fully comprehend what he was telling her. With her eyes still shut, Bruce could still make out the pride she felt given the way the corners of her mouth quivered as they fought off the desire to smile. Her expression was so telling, the typically combative Menalippe called to her with an uncharacteristic softness. "My queen?"

Bruce climbed another step and was immediately blocked by the general's body. She leapt down to the stair right before his and leered at him. Unperturbed, he decided it was time to get to the point.

Bruce knew that the reason why Hecate sent him here was so he could ask the queen of the Amazon one thing. "So, your majesty, I have one request of you: please... take us to the gates of hell. The same one you took Hecate through all those years ago. Let us help your daughter. Let us defeat Hades."


	6. Conflicts and Conspiracy

**_WonderBat Keywords_**

_Theme:_ Honesty  
_Rating:_ PG / T  
_Word Count: _2,020 words

* * *

**NOTE:** For the face claim in this chapter, I envisioned Antonis Vlontakis. But once again, feel free to imagine whomever you'd like!

* * *

In the depths of the Underworld, the only light that Diana had access to came from the violet radiance that Hecate fired out of her hands. Together, they wield swords that were made from different materials but designed to slay the greatest evils as the monsters charged at them. Seeing them cannibalize one another in the tundra in Russia hadn't prepared her for the ferocity that they bombarded her with. She had been trained for centuries on how to hone her senses in even the most dire of circumstances and surely, those lessons came in handy when slaughtering Hades' horde.

Diana had no clue where they were or if they had made any progress in their quest to find Hades. Every swing of her blade was truly made with blind faith. Their sharpened nails would catch her thigh or her arms as she battled them, and one of them nearly pulled her beneath the swarm when it snatched a thick handful of her hair. "Agh!" she cried through gritted teeth, the pain infusing her with a blinding rage.

"Diana!" Hecate hollered, still under the influence of her mania. The way her powers filled the cave with such brilliance became so blinding, it managed to cause her pain when her eyes were still bothered by the light despite the fact that she had shut them tight. She winced behind her shield for seconds that dragged on and on, and her own suffering almost forced her to miss the sound of wailing that surrounded her. It wasn't possible for her to even peek at her surroundings to locate the source the anguish until the goddess of witchcraft finished her radiant spell.

At the exact moment that she knew she was once again shrouded in darkness, Diana tore her arm away from her face and blinked at the cavern frantically. Her eyesight was speckled but it was impossible not to notice the sudden emptiness that she felt around her. "W-Where are they!?" She questioned with panic in her voice.

"They've returned to the dust from whence they came." Explained Hecate, giggling maliciously.

The more she fluttered her eyelashes, the clearer her vision became. No matter which direction she looked in, there was no demon there to claw at her skin or pull on her hair. It was instantly apparent that the threat of the creatures that Hades had been making for some nefarious purpose had been obliterated with one outburst from her mother's friend.

She understood immediately why he had locked someone as powerful as Hecate away if she could destroy his plans with the flick of her wrist.

"Did you destroy them all?" Diana sought clarification.

So confident in herself, Hecate focused her efforts on a new spell: she pulled crystals from the walls of the cavern for as far they both could see and instilled them with a glow that would guarantee that they could no longer be ambushed. "Mmhmm."

"Thank you," Diana huffed.

She expected some other harsh and spry remark to demonstrate Hecate's rage, not the voice she heard instead. "_Don't celebrate your meager victory just yet, my pets_."

A hollow voice managed to strike their ears like a branding iron, infusing their once confident stride with a renewed sense of panic. Diana didn't need to guess who was speaking to them. The way his voice trudged through the lowest octave she'd ever heard implied that the man they were speaking to had lost all of his hope and dignity long ago. "Face us, Hades. You may have escaped the war of the Olympians, but you _will_ answer to us."

"_Yesss_, _I'd love to meet you, princess of the Amazons. And my concubine, too._"

"Don't toy with me, HADES!" Ordered the fuming witch at her side. Diana eyed her volatile companion, watching her as she threw her arms into the air and then promptly tossed them down. It looked like nothing more than fit, but there was a purpose in every action she took: Hecate tore some of her emerging crystals from the walls of the Underworld and sent them forward through the air. Engrossed by her animosity, she gave no word of warning before taking off through the air.

Determined feet carried her through the tunnel at nearly the same speed.

"_Why wouldn't I want to see you? It's been too long since I last looked upon your face._" Though an obviously emotionless man, Hades managed to sounded rather pleased with himself when he was mocking poor Hecate.

Afraid that he was intentionally turning the witch wild, Diana butted in to their battle of words with a striking blow of her own, "You'll be lucky if you see anything before we strike you down!" No matter how foolish it felt to yell at a disembodied voice, she had no issue with parrying his cruel verbal jab.

She followed the soaring Hecate around every corner and down every passageway. The further in they traveled, the more humid the air became, applying an unwanted pressure to Diana's chest with every breath she took. She refused to let the heavy panting keep her from chasing the hovering scrying crystals though. It was an ancient magic ritual she knew of even as mere magic enthusiast and in the hands of the governing goddess of all things magic-related, she believed in her location spell.

When they came to a massive fork in the rode with six options to choose from, Hecate threw her arm out in front of Diana's chest to stop her from moving onward. In the blink of an eye, their cluster of crystals split apart and each took the lead down the different caverns. As they waited on the results, Hades chilling drawl found them again, only now he tried to disrupt their orientation as he threw his voice behind them. "_Come now, princess. What have I done to warrant such hostility? That's no way to speak to family._"

The mere concept that they were related in some way upset her greatly, almost inexplicably.

Nevertheless, she knew he was correct based on a mere technicality. Just because Hecate had destroyed his monstrous army did not mean he was absolved of the guilt associated with his intention in creating them. It did, however, change things in regards to the justice she had a right to serve. How was she to smite him when he had not perpetrated a legitimate crime?

As reasonable as it was for the imprisoned woman to lash out at her captor's forces, and though she always intended to put a stop to Hades' horrible plans no matter what they were, her actions moving forward would alter the course of someone's future.

Or possibly put an end to someone else's.

When a throbbing purple glow garnered her attention from off to her left, Diana realized that the scrying spell had found the correct passage way to Hades. She excitedly, a bit roughly smacked Hecate's shoulder before racing off in the direction of the flicker, ready to take the fight to the lord of the Underworld. As close she got the light, it did not seem to proceed towards their goal. Just before she could bring herself to a halt, her hand was grabbed and carried towards the purple light.

She clutched the rough tapered stone tightly, hearing Hades speak to her through what felt like space and time, "_I'd hope that you'd be happy to meet me_."

On the very last note of his latest jeer, Diana was no longer trapped inside the rocky labyrinth of the Underworld.

No, she was suddenly in a room that looked very much like hell's assembly hall.

With it's master lounging in his throne like he was bored in his own personal playground.

Diana knew immediately who Hecate had warped them in front of and she wasted no time. With a battle cry blaring from deep in her belly, she soared toward the god of the Underworld with her sword poised to sail through his throat. There wasn't a chance for him to use any of his godly gifts to escape her, her Amazonian fortitude and might carrying her at a speed even Hermes himself would have envied.

When her blade plunged into something firm, she had hoped it was spine. But to her surprise it was the lava rock stone she had struck after she had pierced through his body. To her complete surprise, he did not bleed nor silence himself as he smirked up at her visibly shocked face. Unimpeded by the steel piercing his body, he remarked, "Living amongst mankind has made you unruly."

"What?" Diana whispered the word in awe. Never before had her Godkiller been ineffective in killing a god.

The impossibility didn't bother Hades one way or the other. Lifting her eyes from the open wound in his body, she stared into the darkened eyes of the only other Olympian she'd ever known. Wild black hair sat atop of his head and fell down to meet his unshaven beard, covering more of his face than his robes clothed his sloppy in appearance, his gaze was extremely calculated as he peeked at her from under his brows. The bridge of his nose was long and strong, and it managed to hide the way his lips curled from her point of view until the very last second.  
"Ah, what a joyous day this is, to have my daughter come to my realm after all these years." The words were empty despite the gravity of what he dared to say.

"DIANA!" Cried a voice that wasn't Hecate, but it was indeed female. It struck a chord inside of her until a tear fell down her face while she fought to maintain her glare with the man who claimed to be her father. It boggled her mind to hear such a falsehood, but to recognize the call of her mother as if she had traveled down into the possible depths of Tartarus to find her was much too cruel a trick to play.

The voice she heard triggered something inside of the god of death too, as all of his enjoyment of their moment disintegrated there on his throne. Without her noticing, he raised one of his boney hands and fired it into her gut. The force thrusted her into the air and flung her back across the distance she had leapt over moments ago. For the few instances in which she was merely floating, Diana did her best to comprehend the insanity of what he had just said to her. It wasn't impossible for him to try and break her down with lies that were meant to destabilize her. Ares had done so as well.

"I got her!" She heard someone shout, male, wild-sounding.

Diana shut her eyes and rejected all that was around her.

When her back slammed into a firm body, she flailed to break free of whomever so dared to wrap their arms around her waist. That is, until she heard that husky tone in her ear that had become oddly comforting over the past year or so, "Are you all right?"

"Bruce?" She couldn't stop herself from gawking. Looking back at the very man she had Hecate spirit away was mind-boggling for the woman who just had her world shaken. But it felt _real_. Diana wanted nothing more than to believe that he was real, that he was _here_.

Clamouring to find her footing, three more people came to surround her. It nearly stole the air from her lungs to find herself face to face with the rest of her League too. Her team was with her. She had no clue what any of them were meant to do about Hades, but regardless, they were present in the Underworld with her.

Having the four of them fussing over her for something so small restored her shaken will more than she could ever tell them it had.

Maybe it would be enough to galvanize her to face the source that had sounded like her mother.

And, spur on as she took down her 'father'.


	7. Truths and Terrors

_**WonderBat Keywords**_

_Theme:_ Commitment  
_Rating:_ PG / T  
_Word Count:_ 1,635 words

* * *

As he held Diana in his arms, Bruce stared down the man who claimed to be a god, the lord of death, the ruler of the Underworld. Having lived his entire life haunted by the two exact instances where his parents were gunned down by some lowly criminal in Gotham City, it dawned on him when he met those cool grey eyes that every moment of his life meant that he had been fighting this one man in some way or another. He didn't believe in mythology or even in religion and so his take on the afterlife was much more morbid than the average person could take. However, when he gazed upon the physical embodiment of loss - of the grief he lived with for all but eight years of his miserable life - it staggered the typically composed Batman.

"Barry," He murmured low under his breath.

"On it." Whispered back the speedster as he lowered himself into his racing pose. Bruce felt the static in the air against the lower half of his face just before the Flash vanished from sight.

It was at that moment that Diana tried to rise up onto her feet, obstructing his view of the Godkiller disappearing from its position in Hades' throat, disappointing him to some degree. By the time she had risen, Barry had returned with the sword in hand and he immediately presented to Wonder Woman. She would have taken it from him, had she not been distracted by the helping hand the shot out at her, garnering the attention of everyone in their presence.

"Diana," Hippolyta choked on her daughter's name and it managed to stir something in Bruce's gut. Just as she had in the great hall of Themyscira, the queen tried and failed to remain composed in a moment when her heart strings were being tugged. In front of him, the woman he had come to see as a warm and passionate partner now looked like nothing more than a wax figure of herself, incapable of moving or reacting to what or who was right in front of her.

For once, he couldn't be accused of ruining an emotional moment, as Hades took it upon himself to ruminate aloud, "How long has it been since an Amazon has come into my chambers? Not since her highness i believe, has one of your kind approached me so openly, begging for my… aid."

"Scan complete," a computerized voice muttered in Bruce's ear piece, along with comms of every other League members'. "No vital signs detected. Oxygen levels: zero. Heart rate: zero bpm." Victor's ability to examine Hades from across the chamber did very little for them other than confirm what they already knew. Still, Batman always relied on scientific avenues of research before he allowed himself to believe in the fantastical.

The god of the Underworld could not be slain like his brothers and sisters it would seem.

Having no foreseeable way to defeat him only enraged Diana further and she stomped her foot forward in an agitated stride as she screamed, "Don't you say another word!"

"No, I will not be silenced in my own home," Hades barked back. "I've waited centuries to once again have such arousing company."

"That only proves that you were a fool to choose Persephone over me." Hecate growled venomously. She had retained her animal-like mannerisms since Bruce had last seen her and it made him worry to himself over what she might do to them should she ever see the Justice League as her enemy.

Before he could dare antagonize the seething goddess further, Hippolyta walked a few paces ahead of her daughter and demonstrated the exact sort of domination he expected from her. "That's quite enough. These foolish games you're playing have garnered the attention you so desperately craved. If you want to see your regency unharmed, I advise you to remain silent and allow us to depart in peace."

"What!?" Hecate's screech reverberated off of the many stony edges in the Underworld, her immense displeasure palpable by every single person present.  
The queen held out her hand in the direction of the infuriated witch, her elbow bent so as to appear less authoritative and more sincere. Then, she carried on. "I warn you now, Hades. We have all lived without our gods for many years, and should you choose to challenge the forces of the Amazons and these heroes of mankind, you will be reduced to the very same state as your brothers and sisters: dead-"

The mere mention of death made him cackle at the proud queen. For a man who appeared to be so lifeless, his amusement only made him seem even more sick and twisted. Everything about Hades reminded Bruce of the horrible villains he dealt with in Gotham - drunk on their own power and existing solely to torture others. "Pitiful Hippolyta! To think that you would have the gall to threaten me? We both know that none of you could stand in my way, no matter what it is I plan to do."  
"And what is this plan of yours?" Bruce challenged him with the same amount of aggression he usually reserved for the Joker. He walked up to Diana's side and simplified his inquiry for the man who enjoyed dodging whatever it was they said to him. "Why make some demon army just to leave alone to kill each other in Russia?"

The interrogation amused Hades, and he knew it. "To grow stronger in a human-made cesspool of energy."

"Why!?" demanded the Batman. While he panted after releasing such a harsh shout, the lord of the Underworld stared at him with an eerie smile on his face. He even looked past the Amazonian queen to stare into Bruce's soul, almost as if he was communicating the answer he sought through the silence that befell them all. But no, he realized soon enough that he didn't say a word because he didn't need to. "You know, don't you?"

"Know what?" Asked Hecate, panic in her tone.

"Indeed I do." Hades confirmed.

"What do you know?" Taking a step backwards, Hippolyta turned to face Bruce at a proper angle as she looked to him for an answer.

Eyeing Diana, he decided if it was best for her to decide if her mother needed to know what it was the League was made for, or why she was on a team with superpowered men. Diana appeared grateful a mere second before she acknowledged her mother and explained, "There is a threat coming to Earth from beyond the cosmo, from another world."

"It's why you have your precious team," Hades acknowledged with an unflattering sneer. "To protect this planet from the reach of those who wish to claim us all as theirs to control. I will not be anyone's subject. I will take control over the Earth before I allow an alien to take what is rightfully mine!"

"None of us are YOURS!"

"You have no right to the Earth!"

"How dare you threaten all of mankind!"

So many cries of disapproval and trepidation sounded off once he had admitted to his scheme, but that wasn't what Bruce had his focus geared towards. No, all he could think about was the probability of a mythological god defeating an alien that commanded a legion of creatures like Doomsday. He fretted instantly over the lives that would be lost between two almighty forces colliding if they made the earth their battleground. All he heard was more and more chaos spilling out of Hades lips and he couldn't stop himself from spewing out some tactless words of his own, "Those monsters you made are nothing compared to the alien that Diana and I have already faced."

Once more, Hades zeroed in on the anxious Bruce and paid him the closest attention. With a tilt of his head, his leer somehow became even darker, even more devastating as he lifted his hand into the air. "Those 'monsters' were merely for the numbers. What I have in my grasps is all I truly need." Then, he snapped his fingers loudly enough to rival the sound of Hecate's shrill wailing.

Bruce was prepared to deliver to him the very same snide remark about how his plan would fail, about how there was no secret weapon to overcoming the monsters that could descend upon them from outer space.

Until he heard a familiar boom in the distance.  
He had no idea which direction it came from. All he knew was that one moment there was only Hades glaring at him.

And then next, there was a reincarnated Superman hovering at the lord of the Underworld's side.

Bruce heard Diana gasp with the exact same amount of shock that he was feeling, but he had his breath stolen from him at the sight of their deceased friend under the influence of Hades. The entire purpose that the two of them had made the Justice League was gather together the strongest people on Earth and protect it, in Clark's memory. Their shared commitment to Superman, to Lois, to the human race was meant to carry on the promise he'd once made to Superman: to save.

"Diana," his voice broke as he said her name, as did his conviction.

"Bruce," she replied with the confidence in her voice that he needed to rely on in that moment. Within the depths of the Underworld that he never thought could exist, locking eyes with the friend he believed he'd never see again, the only one who could pull him out of his stupor was her. And she did just by saying his name.

That's why they were a team.

That's how they were going to defeat the unkillable god of death.

Together, with their team.

* * *

_To be continued..._


End file.
